For the second time in three years, Macalester College has been named a recipient of the NCAA Division III Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Grant which provides funding for entry-level administrative positions to encourage access, recruitment, selection and the long-term success of ethnic minorities and women. Through the grant funding, Jordi Gerking has been named the Assistant to the Associate Athletic Director and Communications and Special Events Coordinator, the department announced Tuesday.

"We are extremely excited to have Gerking join the Macalester athletics staff," said Vanessa Seljeskog, associate athletic director. "Gerking developed outstanding skills and experience in an intercollegiate athletics setting during her time as both a student-athlete and graduate assistant. She will be a tremendous addition to the athletics department."

Gerking begins her work at Macalester after spending two years as an athletics media relations graduate assistant at her alma mater St. Cloud State University. As a graduate assistant, Gerking was in charge of all sports information duties including website maintenance, statistics, social media, photography, video and media coordination. She also developed a communication plan for the Husky Kids Club which engaged local youth in St. Cloud athletics.

Following her time as an undergraduate at St. Cloud, Gerking spent the summer of 2011 working as a marketing and fan experience intern with the Waterloo Bucks of the Northwoods Baseball League. During that time, she facilitated promotional events, arranged advertising and served as the fan experience coordinator during home events. Gerking also worked as a graphic designer for the Classical Actors Ensemble in Minneapolis for two years.

In May 2014, Gerking received her master's degree in strategic media communications. Prior to her graduate work, Gerking received her bachelor's in marketing – also at St. Cloud State. As an undergraduate, she was a five-year member of the Division II Husky women's basketball program, four-time Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) All-Academic honoree and eight-semester dean's list student.

As the Assistant to the Associate Athletic Director and Communications and Special Events Coordinator Gerking will assist with various department duties, as well as work with sports information, digital media, game management and compliance.

Macalester previously received the Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Grant for a two-year appointment from 2011-2013 with two individuals filling the position. The first recipient, Sara Eisenhauer, has spent the last two years as the sports information director at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. The second recipient of the internship position, Madeline Greene, just completed her first year as an athletics communication assistant at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.,